Feed aggregator

ACCC to oversee reform of water market which emerged after Murray-Darling Basin changes meant water allocations could be traded

• Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates
• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

The federal government will crack down on shonky practices in the trading of water which have undermined farmers’ trust in the market by implementing new rules and more oversight.

The water minister, Tanya Plibersek, will announce today that $12m has been provided to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to police and implement the roadmap for water market reform.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

A US-headquartered oil and gas exploration firm has inked a multi-year partnership with a UN-backed non-profit to help drive a “sustainable” market for clean cooking solutions, including “clean-burning” liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The claim it would take 25% of Australia’s land mass to provide the planet with green hydrogen misses an obvious point

• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

How much land would be needed for enough solar panels and windfarms to supply the world with green hydrogen?

In a story in The Australian this week, the apparent answer was about 25% of Australia’s entire land mass.

Continue reading...

California regulator ARB issued the lowest number of compliance offsets since mid-July for the latest reporting period, but tagged more than 11 mln credits from an Arizona forestry project with the distinction of accruing direct environmental benefits to the state (DEBs), according to government data published Wednesday.

An anticipated red wave was more of a ripple in the US midterm election on Tuesday as the Republican Party appeared to have come up short in its ability to limit the Inflation Reduction Act's (IRA) $370 billion in climate initiatives, while state-level victories by Democrats preserved market-based carbon reduction programmes across the country.

While we race to decarbonise, we must also recognise is something wrong with the system that drives our economy and guides our lives.

The post Ross Garnaut thinks Australia can be a low-carbon superpower – but should this be our goal? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

California regulator ARB presented a stronger potential 2030 carbon intensity reduction goal for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) on Wednesday, which was more stringent than two targets published earlier this year, with some of those scenarios limiting the ability of credit generation from renewable natural gas (RNG) and crop-based biofuels.

A global group of securities regulators has launched dual consultations into compliance and voluntary carbon markets, seeking feedback on the role of financial watchdogs can play in increasing the resilience of these schemes while also leveraging the experience gained from wider financial markets.

A carbon credit ratings agency has downgraded is score for major VCS-certified African REDD project on concerns that it may have been awarded too many credits.

Brookfield, the one time bid partner with Mike Cannon-Brookes for AGL, is now leading a consortium making an $18.4 billion offer for Origin Energy.

The post Brookfield leads $18.4bn bid for Origin, plans to spend another $20bn on renewable transition appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The European Parliament is expected this week to vote in line with several of its committees over the bloc's REPowerEU package to exit Russian fossil fuels, several sources told Carbon Pulse on Wednesday, teeing up a tussle with member states on several issues including sources of carbon allowance funding.

South Australia has delayed the date for the introduction of new rules to pave the way for “flexible exports” of rooftop solar.

The post South Australia delays flexible solar export rule change, as industry scrambles to prepare appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A new global carbon market concept pushed by the US on Wednesday is bracing to battle at least three thorny issues that have plagued carbon credit markets in the voluntary space over the years, including their use towards net zero targets, preventing carbon leakage, and benefiting the most vulnerable.

Leaders, activists and other delegates rub shoulders at UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Continue reading...

This year’s climate talks have been overshadowed by rising international tensions, energy crises and war. But that doesn’t mean climate action is dead. Hao Tan, Associate Professor, Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle Alexander M. Hynd, PhD candidate, UNSW Sydney Elizabeth Thurbon, Scientia Associate Professor in International Relations / International Political Economy, UNSW Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Constructing and running buildings accounts for roughly a third of global energy use and emissions. So it’s alarming that a report to COP27 shows the sector is veering off course for net zero by 2050. Anna Hurlimann, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Georgia Warren-Myers, Associate Professor in Property, The University of Melbourne Judy Bush, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Negotiations move behind closed doors and China confirms ‘informal’ talks with US

After the leaders’ speeches of the first couple of days, most of the negotiations have now moved behind closed doors. The big discussions today were all around finance, and there does appear to have been some movement on this, as Damian Carrington reported, with positive momentum potentially starting to build on a pivotal issue as the UK said it would allow some debt payment deferrals, while Austria and New Zealand put forward funding for loss and damage.

Other developments included:

The family of the jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah demanded proof of life for the third day in a row

A Kulkalgal activist from the Torres Strait Islands said the way the world often treated Indigenous people was an insult and that he was at the conference “fighting for our home”

Bill McKibben, a US environmentalist and founder of 350.org, told an audience: “This year we’ve fully understood the link between fossil fuels and fascism. Putin could not have invaded Ukraine without the profits from oil and gas, or [cowed] the west with threats of turning off the taps.”

The World Bank president, David Malpass, said he was not a “climate denier”. The Donald Trump appointee previously said he did not “even know” if he accepted climate science.

Protesters staged rallies inside the central conference area, ignoring Egypt’s attempts to keep displays of dissent out of sight.

Almost half of young people in Africa say they have reconsidered having children due to the climate crisis, according to a Unicef poll.

China’s envoy said the US had “closed the door” to climate talks and needed to reopen it. Xie Zhenhua said Beijing and Washington were having “informal talks”. Xie also hinted that China may contribute to a “loss and damage” fund.

John Kerry, the US climate envoy, announced a global carbon credit trading initiative that he said would be “critical” in helping developing countries transition to cleaner forms of energy. That has received a mixed reaction from environmental groups.

Continue reading...

A Kulkalgal activist from the Torres Strait Islands has said the way the world often treats Indigenous people is an insult and he is attending the Cop27 conference in Egypt 'fighting for our home'.  Yessie Mosby, who in September was part of a group of claimants who made history in a landmark legal case that found the Australian government should compensate Torres Strait Islanders over climate crisis failures, said: 'Whether it's us in the saltwater, people of the Pacific Islands, or the people of the plains and the mountains, the swamps, who are facing climate change, we really want our voices to be heard. And we really need action.'

• Cop27 global climate summit: latest updates

Continue reading...

Experts have urged the supervisory body on Article 6.4 to ensure the proposed grievance process, or mechanism, has teeth, is designed by landholders, and has key transparency assurances, as efforts are underway to establish it in time for the beginning of credit issuances in 2025.